This invention relates to composites of cellulose fibers and grafted polymers from olefins, and to cellulose fibers treated with such polymers.
It is known that the mixture of discontinuous fibers with polymeric materials can impart improved properties to the polymeric materials, such as greater strength and stiffness. For example, glass fibers incorporated into a polypropylene molding resin can produce a rigid, strong composite, suitable for a variety of applications. The combination of discontinuous cellulosic fibers with a variety of vulcanized elastomers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,364 to Boustany and Coran. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,079 to Hamed shows pretreatment of cellulosic fibers prior to incorporating them into a variety of organic polymers.